Today, the United States announced that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) plans to invest $100 million to build 25 additional new schools in Jordan as part of the Let Girls Learn Initiative.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality & Women's Empowerment Susan Markham will travel to Berlin, Germany November 8-12, 2015. Her visit will focus on raising the importance ofenabling environments that are needed to empower women economically.

Today at an event on Capitol Hill, Feed the Future, the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative, announced that developing countries are making substantial progress against global hunger, poverty and malnutrition, thanks in part to U.S. Government support. In 2014 alone, Feed the Future reached nearly 19 million households and helped nearly 7 million farmers gain access to new tools and technologies.

Innovations that improve water, food security and support gender equality receive up to $3 million in funding and acceleration support

Today at Amsterdam International Water Week Securing Water for Food: A Grand Challenge for Development announced 12 new game-changing solutions that will increase water availability and promote efficient use of water in agriculture. The program also announced its partnership with the government of South Africa, which joins the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (MFA-NL) in this $34 million global effort.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Asia Jonathan Stivers will travel to Thailand, Burma, Indonesia and Timor Leste from November 2 to 20, 2015, to oversee U.S. assistance programs, meet with USAID staff, government officials, implementing partners and civil society leaders.

On November 2 - 4, 2015 the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will host its 2015 Global Education Summit. The objectives of this Summit are to review lessons learned and to apply those lessons to future programs. The event will be attended by USAID education officers and partners as well as a number of high-level ministry of education leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Our thoughts are with the people affected by the magnitude 7.5 earthquake that struck Afghanistan and the region today. We are deeply saddened by reports of deaths and destruction in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The United States stands ready to help should governments request international assistance.

Today President Obama announced nearly $3 million in humanitarian assistance to help Indonesia fight forest fires and address the negative impacts that the fires and resulting haze are having on people's health.

First Lady Michelle Obama announced today a new commitment, in coordination with the Government of Pakistan, to advance girls' education in Pakistan as part of the Let Girls Learn initiative. USAID's Let Girls Learn in Pakistan program will provide $70 million to new and ongoing USAID programs that benefit more than 200,000 adolescent girls aged 10-19. The announcement was made during an event at the White House with Mrs. Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif, spouse of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Mrs. Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Development Innovation Ventures Program Sources New Ways to End Extreme Poverty

The U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) U.S. Global Development Lab today announced $14.1 million in new grants to 32 organizations from around the world. The awards are funded through the Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) program, a year-round open competition that seeks breakthrough development solutions with the potential to change millions of lives at a fraction of the usual cost.

Assistance will leverage private sector investment in the Caribbean and Central America

Secretary of State John Kerry today launched a clean energy initiative to catalyze new public and private sector investment in the Caribbean and Central America. The initiative, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of State, and implemented with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, will provide $10 million in its first year for crucial early-stage financial assistance to clean energy projects, bolstering energy and economic security in the two focal regions.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its partners released a new report today showing an almost 50 percent reduction in maternal deaths in target facilities in Uganda and Zambia. Equally as unprecedented as the reductions in mortality, these results were achieved in just two and a half years.

U.S. Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator for Global Health Ariel Pablos-Méndez will travel to Mexico City for the Global Maternal Newborn Health Conference from October 17-October 21.

The United States today announced nearly $15 million in additional humanitarian assistance to help those affected by the conflict in Ukraine. This brings total U.S. humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since the start of the crisis to nearly $84 million.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality & Women's Empowerment Susan Markham will travel to Thailand and Bangladesh October 12-22. Her visit will focus on USAID's development assistance, specifically programs supporting gender integration and women's empowerment through public-private partnerships in the economic, democracy and governance, health, food security, and education sectors.

USAID Ebola Disaster Assistance Response Team Honored with Service to America Medal

I am thrilled that USAID's Ebola Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has been selected as a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal recipient in the National Security and International Affairs category.

I am thrilled the MacArthur Foundation has honored Patrick Awuah as a 2015 MacArthur Fellow. As the founder and President of Ashesi University, one of Africa's top institutions of higher learning, Patrick is helping to empower the next generation of Ghana's leaders.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a $1.8 million partnership with Michigan State University to help the African Great Lakes region maintain its international position in the coffee market. Today, the first ever International Coffee Day, provides an opportunity to reflect on how the coffee in your cup is connected to the lives of smallholder farmers in low income countries around the world. This partnership launches the Feed the Future African Great Lakes Region Coffee Support Program that will help coffee farmers in Rwanda support their families.

The United States remains deeply concerned by the increasingly dire humanitarian situation in Yemen, where millions of people now face pre-famine conditions. A collapsing health system is allowing rapid spread of dengue fever and other diseases, and child malnutrition is reaching alarming levels.